After the war Mailer worked as a scriptwriter in Hollywood. Much of his work was refused by many publishers. But in mid 1950s he began to be famous as an anti-establishment essayist. In stories like The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster (1956), Advertisement for Myself (1959), Mailer examined violence, hysteria, crimes, and confusion in the American society.

Other of Mailer's famous works include Why Are We in Vietnam? (1967), Armies of the Night (1968, awarded Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award), Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968), Of a Fire on the Moon (1970), The Executuoner's Song (1979, awarded Pulitzer Prize) and Harlot's Ghost (1991).